The present application claims priority under 35 USC 119 to Japanese Patent Application No. 2001-282457 filed on Sep. 17, 2001 the entire contents thereof is hereby incorporated by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a meter cover structure, provided for a fuel tank, of a motorcycle or the like.
2. Description of Background Art
Meter cover structures, provided for fuel tanks, of motorcycles have been disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2000-128052. The meter cover structure described in this document includes a meter, and a meter cover disposed over a tank that includes an opening portion in which the meter is disposed. A planar portion is provided having an approximately circular-arc cross-section and is formed on a portion on the rear side of the opening portion of the meter cover and a portion, immediately behind the opening portion, of the planar portion is disposed substantially within the same plane as that of an upper surface portion of the meter so as to be continuous thereto.
The related art meter cover structure, however, has a problem. Since the portion, immediately behind the opening portion, of the meter cover is disposed substantially within the same plane as that of the upper surface portion of the meter, if a plating member is used as the meter cover, there may occur a reflection of light from the meter cover, and if an object is brought into contact with the meter cover, the meter may be often damaged by contact with the object.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a meter cover structure capable of further improving the visibility of a meter and preventing, if an object is brought into contact with a meter cover, the meter from being damaged by contact with the object.
To achieve the above object, there is provided a meter cover structure including a meter (for example, a meter 625 in an embodiment), and a meter cover (for example a meter cover 621 in the embodiment) disposed over a fuel tank (for example, a fuel tank 14 in the embodiment). The meter cover includes an opening portion (for example, an opening 622 in the embodiment) in which the meter is disposed. A chamfer portion (for example, a chamfer portion 627 in the embodiment) is provided having a linear cross-section tilted downwardly toward the front side is formed at an edge portion (for example, an edge portion 626 in the embodiment), on the rear side of the opening portion, of the meter cover. An upper surface portion (for example, an upper surface portion 628 in the embodiment) of the meter is tilted such that a tilting angle of the upper surface portion of the meter with respect to the chamfer portion of the meter cover is different from a tilting angle of the upper surface portion of the meter with respect to an upper surface portion (for example, an upper surface portion 632 in the embodiment), continuous to the rear end of the chamfer portion, of the meter cover.
With this configuration, the chamfer portion having the linear cross-section tilted downwardly toward the front side is formed at the edge portion, on the rear side of the opening portion, of the meter cover, and the upper surface portion of the meter is tilted such that the tilting angle of the upper surface portion of the meter with respect to the chamfer portion of the meter cover is different from the tilting angle of the upper surface portion of the meter with respect to the upper surface portion, continuous to the rear end of the chamfer portion, of the meter cover. As a result, even if light is reflected from both the chamfer portion of the meter cover and the upper surface portion, continuous to the rear end of the chamfer portion, of the meter cover, it is possible to ensure the enhanced visibility of the meter. Also since the upper surface portion of the meter is not disposed within the same plane as that of each of the chamfer portion and the upper surface portion continuous to the rear end of the chamfer portion, even if an object comes in contact with the meter cover, the meter can be prevented from being brought into contact with the object.
Further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.